I know there are Australians on this board...<br /><br />I'm heading to Sidney for a little R&R the middle of November. December was my first choice, but the tickets were outrageous!<br /><br />How warm (or cool) is the water around November 20th? I'll be in Sidney.<br /><br />Also, besides the Opera House, what are the must see attractions in Sidney? Any good classical bookstores? <br /><br />thanks,<br />jeff<br /><br />

Well, for goodness sake spell it SYdney or they will be most offended! I lived there most of my life but now live in Adelaide (about 1500 km west). The climate (in Sydney that is) can be quite tropical, so even though it may not be all that hot in degrees it can feel warm. I don't think you would need to take any winter clothes apart from a light jacket. It rains a lot in the spring/summer but it is tropical type rain, not freezing cold. Don't miss a chance to have a ferry ride or boat trip on Sydney Harbour - it is really one of the most beautiful in the world. <br />Not having lived there for years I can't really comment on book stores but www.yellowpages.com.au/ will give you a list of any businesses by searching and you will find many have email or websites. Sydney University probably has a bookshop and they have a Classics Dept there.

hi jeff, i live in the centre of sydney so i can help you out. the beaches will all be perfect at the end of november: warm ocean currents will be in, and the usual 1,000 to 10,000 will be packed on each beach each day <br /><br />classical bookstores, the best one by far is abbey's (right near the town hall, in the centre of syd), they have all the loebs, a stack of octs, and heaps of grammars, dictionaries &c. it's really the only first-hand bookstore which has a decent classics collection, and even that's prob not as good as what you're used to in america. you can sit there for hours reading and they don't bother you. second-hand bookstores, definitely go to darlinghurst (a suburb also in the centre of syd), it has a few bookstores open to midnight within 5 mins walk of each other, but their classics collections has already been pretty much cleaned out (by me sorry). worth trying though.<br /><br />for classical antiquities, the best is sydney uni's nicholson museum. you'll know you've arrived when you see a life-size copy of the (top half of) prima porta augustus, and a life-size roman senator statue from the republican era, at the door. pretty cool. there are also a few random classical statues through sydney's centre: right near my law firm is a life-size copy of the piraeus athena bronze, donated by athens' mayor 2 years ago, i love it but the plebs walk by without noticing. also in the gardens on the harbour there are, on either side of a path, two greek pankratioi, one about to jab the other in the ribs (as that story goes), pretty cool (not antiques though).<br /><br />if you want some local info about non-classical things to do in syd, i can post them here or msg you (if non-sydneysiders are already sick of this info cheers, chad.

whoops.. sorry about Sydney :-[ <br /><br />Thanks for the suggestion about the harbour ride - that sounds great!<br /><br />Carola - I'll be sure to check out Abbey's. Sure PM be anything you think is important, I really have no plans.<br /><br />jeff